On the 25th anniversary of its worst crash ever, Dallas/Fort
Worth International Airport will dedicate a memorial at 9:30 a.m.
Monday to the 135 victims of Delta Air Lines Flight 191.

Plans for the brief ceremony at D/FW's Founders Plaza
observation park, about two miles from the crash site, include the
D/FW Department of Public Safety honor guard, a prayer from the
D/FW Interfaith Chaplaincy and brief remarks from the airport's
chief executive, Jeff Fegan.

The loss of life on Aug. 2, 1985, was horrific. But in many
ways, Flight 191 helped make flying safer.

"There are so many lessons that were learned across the aviation
industry because of this," airport spokesman David Magaña
said. "It was a truly significant event in so many ways that we
thought it was appropriate to dedicate this memorial."

Flight 191, en route to Los Angeles from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
with a stop at D/FW, was on final approach on a hot, humid Friday
night with one unremarkable thundercloud between it and the
airport. But as the Delta L-1011 descended, a member of the flight
crew noticed lightning coming from the cloud.

As the plane reached about 800 feet, its flight speed increased,
then slowed sharply. Caught in a plunging downburst of air and
violently shifting winds, Flight 191 slammed into a field north of
the airport, rose again and then plowed into another field. The
plane clipped a water tank and exploded. One of its engines crushed
a small car on State Highway 114, killing the driver.

The crash eventually led to the installation of onboard radar
wind-shear detectors, which became standard equipment on airliners
in the mid-1990s.

Founders Plaza, the site of Monday's memorial dedication, is at
1700 N. Airfield Drive, near the intersection of State Highway 114
and Texan Trail in Grapevine.